Obama Revelations

1 Puppeteers?

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It's no denying that President Barack Obama is an extremely wealthy man. He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) in 2010, with much coming from sales of his books alone. Considering his large number of supporters, donors, and investors, Obama can make the money before he even does the work. His image alone can provide him with a substantial amount of income. And to put it simply: He has fat cat donors. This trend began right out of the gates in 2004.

"Nearly half of the more than $5 million Obama raised for his 2004 Senate Primary came from just 300 donors. The charmed circle of 300 included the Pritzker family, founders of the Hyatt Hotel chain. The Pritzkers donated $40,000, and the self described "centrist" Penny Pritzker became and remained Obama's national finance chairwoman." (Street 15)

2. Yes You Can (While We Watch)

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The "Yes We Can" slogan adopted by Obama is powerful to say the least. A perfect form of bandwagoning. The first time I heard the slogan, "Yes We Can", I felt like I could be a part of this change that Obama was offering. I did also feel that it seemed as if most of the "can" would be laid onto Obama, and not as much on "us". The term "we" may have been thrown around too easily. I don't deny that it is an extremely powerful statement.

"'Yes We Can' - It's not to be taken lightly. It is a very welcome sentiment to hear, and Obama deserves credit for encouraging it in an often eloquent and inspiring way." (Street 204)

3. BUD LIGHT: Here We Go!

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Obama has been seen in the media drinking alcohol in public places like sports games and local bars around the nation. This is a fairly new image for a President. Before now, that kind of image may have been interpreted by many to seem like he is an alcoholic, or he drinks too much. I think that is B.S. He drinks beer to look like average american. To show that he can loosen his tie and have a beer with the fellas while they vent about the past day at work. It's a blue collar look. I think its a healthy image to show.

4. First Black (and White) President

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I voted for Obama. That being said, I do feel that Obama's election success in 2008 was highly due to the hype about his ethnicity. Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. But his heritage traces back to Kenya, Africa where his Father was from. It has been recorded that people in the black community have stated that they feel that although Barack has black descendants, he is no more black than any past white presidents.

"Obama was not portrayed as 'too white' as much as he was accused of being an elite intellectual who was 'not from us, not from the hood'" (Street 107)

5. Hangin' With Jay

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Obama is the first sitting president to appear on a late night talk/chat show. I believe this was because he had (and still has) a desire to present himself publicly and answer (what seems to be) any questions people have for him. As previously stated, I think it has been an important part of Obama's presidency to achieve a "common man" image.

"At its simplest level, we see the importance of media in the fact that a telegenic style and appearance greatly enhance a candidates chance of success. That is, looking and acting comfortable on television can aid a candidate's cause." (Hoynes 233)

6. The Big "O"

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"The Obama Brand" has skyrocketed since the 2008 election. We all know the image of the blue "O" with red and white stripes draping past the front. I don't remember the last president who had his own logo. Its a successful marketing tactic if you ask me. Why not give the president his own brand? It's symbolism. A way to bring supporters together using one image. We can see it in the corner of our eye on a billboard or on the side panel of a website, and we don't even have to look directly at it to confirm that it is his logo. It is very light colored to imply peace, yet very symmetrical to imply strength. Frankly, its one of the most recognizable logo's around. The young crowd (like myself) tend to react best to the logo.

"'Brand Obama's' pure media-created celebrity-hood has been a major factor in his ascendency, particularly with regard to younger voters." (Street 169)

And here is a direct testimonial from one of those young people:

"He's just so cool. He's on television all the time and he's just really excellent. Nobody ever heard of him before, and then boom-there he is, like... I could listen to him all day." (Street 168)

Couldn't that quote also be about Eminem or Mark Wahlberg?

7. I feel that the media is trying to find flaws in Obama's steps. Every speech he makes, town he visits, the media do what they can to judge the little flaws. News channels used to have no issue making fun or exploiting George Bush's mistakes and flaws. But now they are trying to squeeze artificial

8. Whites for Obama

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A lot of white Americans felt that Obama winning the presidency in 2008 was, in a way, the period at the end of the sentence, or the lid on the pot of slavery in the United States.

"Obama, is a way for highly educated liberal and moderate whites around here to pat themselves on the back and say 'Hey, I'm not too prejudiced to vote for a black guy.'"

9. Gerack Obush

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There has been talk after four years in office about how Obama has done lots of things similarly to the way George Bush did them when he was in office. Lots of Obama supporters are confused these days as to where the man shouting about change and prosperity in 2008 ran off to. But some people don't understand that Obama has many similar opinions with Bush. He states here that he feels the same way about Iraq as Bush did. Only Obama looks at it slightly differently.

"'There's not that much difference between my position [on Iraq] and George Bush's position at this stage. The difference, in my mind, is who's in a position to execute [the occupation].'" (Street 143)

10. All In The Family

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Lastly I'd like to point out the Obama Family. How cute. They really do present themselves well. They are in the spotlight 24/7 and they seem unphased. Granted, Sasha and Malia will always have different lives than other girls they know, but its an impressive combination of strong individuals. Not to mention Michelle. She could run for president herself. I wouldn't be surprised if she is calling the shots behind the curtain!

Media Meditation #3: Crazy Eyes

If you can't tell, that's me

It's 10:00 p.m. I'm sitting here at my computer in the library, noticing first that I have now been here for four and a half hours, second that I haven't eaten since 2:00 p.m., and third, that I am tiring myself with web cruising, blog writing, and Facebook chatting. I have been staring at my 15" MacBook Pro screen for 4.5 hours straight (minus a 2 minute pee break at 8:54). What is this saying about my life? Furthermore, what is it saying about our lives as Americans?

This has been my evening. I guarantee that others are having this same experience right now. Just endless amounts of time staring at a screen, as time whizzes past, with no sense of personal interaction or bodily needs. It's like these 15 inches of light are going to burn themselves into my eyesight after a certain period of time, so that I can see my computer screen when my eyes are closed.

That having been said, lets examine a list of the things that I have accomplished in this relatively comfy chair in this 64.1 degree room:

• I have sent 9 emails to 5 different people
• I have written 2 blog posts
• I have developed a relationship with a friend with whom I have not conversed in 5 months, over Facebook chat
• I have coordinated the next week of my life, by planning out the tasks I need to complete by next Sunday night.
• I have learned a new Shepherd's Pie recipe
• I have researched and examined the plug-in components of Apple's Logic Pro
• and I have done all of this without touching a single piece of paper, without touching a phone, or without touching a pen

Who is winning now Charlie Sheen? Yes, maybe this particular blog post has gone awry because of this recent self-realization, but let us learn about ourselves from this habit. Are we slowly killing ourselves by spending so much time looking at a screen and so little time playing ultimate frisbee down at Callahan Park?

I don't have the answer to that question. I think we won't know the true answer for then next couple decades. What we do know, is that a lack of exercise will kill our bodies. We will rot in a pile of fat and bone if we don't exercise. But these machines are making us more productive than ever before. Could my father have told me, in 1961, when he was twelve years old, that we would be able to send mail to 5 different people, update our weekly planner, and learn how to cook dinner all on the same device in a matter of hours? I don't think so.

The down side? We go on a 4.5 hour internet binge and come out feeling like this...

And this is my Dad

Media Meditation #2: The Tank

Photo Credit: Third Stone Images

One of my more recent media experiences came about a week ago, when I helped out a crew at The Tank Recording Studio, in Burlington. My friend, Ben Collette runs the show at The Tank. He let me join him last Monday, to help setup and record the latest edition of "Exposure" hosted by WRUV 90.1 FM.

The Tank has recently partnered with WRUV 90.1 FM, a non-commercial radio station at the University of Vermont, to present live in-studio sessions featuring local, regional, and national musicians. The hour-long program, which has been on the air for close to 30 years,  features a short interview and a set of music, mixed live to analog tape at The Tank.

Craig Myers playing the "Ngoni", his staple instrument

Last week's session featured the world-beat-grooves of Barika. The instrumental sextet, fronted by Craig Myers (Rubblebucket, Mike Gordon Band) on Ngoni, performed two full sets, recorded and mixed live.

I was lucky enough to have my first (hopefully of many) Exposure session with this great eclectic band, consisting of these outstanding musicians. Before the session, I helped everyone get the studio space ready for the band. Considering the fact that I am a drummer, Ben saw it fit for me to set up the drum set and its microphones, as well as some other various pieces of equipment involved in the recording process.

I also was also pleasantly surprised when they asked me to man one of the free-roaming video cameras involved in the live video stream they put out. As an added bonus, I was glad that I could then use my extensive training in digital filmmaking at Champlain College along with hanging out with great musicians.

Holding a shot on Barika's organ player. Photo Credit: Third Stone Images

I wish to pursue a career in audio engineering in my future, and I believe that aside from my college training, helping out at local studios like The Tank is the best way for me to learn the ropes and get my foot in the door.

This was a portion of the live web-stream switched by Cortex.

Click HERE to check out the entire podcast from the session.

“Exposure” airs Wednesdays at 8pm on WRUV 90.1 FM. You can also visit The Tank's Website for archived audio and video clips from each session.

Chevron: Saving The World One Gas Station at a Time

A Nigerian woman stands beside an oil pipe in the tattered village

Chevron:
- An American multinational energy corporation.
- Headquartered in San Ramon, California
- Active in more then 180 countries
- Engaged in all aspects of oil, gas, and geothermal industries:
• exploration and production
• refining, marketing and transport
• chemicals manufacturing and sales
• power generation
• also one of the world's 6 "supermajor" oil companies

- Chevron's 2008 annual report to its shareholders is a celebration celebrating the company's most profitable year in its history. Profits of $24 billion deemed Chevron the second most profitable corporation in the United states after Exxon Mobil.

- Chevron's 2007 revenues were larger than the gross domestic product (GDP) of 150 nations.

- The annual report does not reveal the true cost paid for those financial returns:

• lives lost
• wars fought
• communities destroyed
• environments decimated
• livelihoods ruined
• and political voices silenced

- Also doesn't describe the global resistance movement gaining voice and strength against these operations. Communities affected negatively by this corporations activity have prepared an Alternative Annual Report.

- In California, Chevron is the state's largest corporation and the dominant oil industry force before the state legislature.

- As one of the major players in what is increasingly recognized as "rogue industry," Chevron buys assurance that the government representatives will look the other way as the health of communities and environments around the planet are destroyed.

- Chevron also hires military "protection" against locals, evidenced in Iraq, the Niger Delta, Chad, Cameroon, Angola, and Burma.

- Places where Chevron is stationed are called their "company towns".

- In Cabinda, the heart of Angola's oil production, Chevron is polluting and destroying the environment. It puts locals on edge and it stunts the area's developmental possibilities.

- In Chevron's Chad-Cameroon project, violence has sky-rocketed, impoverished people in the oil fields and along the pipe route, and has exacerbated pressures on indigenous peoples.

- In the Niger Delta, the Earth's most oil damaged region, Chevron employes the notoriously brutal Nigerian military to provide it with security services.

• The military uses violence to repress local peaceful protesters.



- Oil is running out. The oil that is left is found in more environmentally, socially, and politically sensitive areas and is more hotly contested.

- Chevron spends, at best, less than 3 percent of its capital and exploratory budget on green energy.

- Cheveron marks itself as an "alternative energy" company that is "part of the solution".

- In April 2010, The largest blowout in thirty years of an oil and gas well in the Gulf of Mexico killed eleven people and saturated the surrounding areas in a blanket of oily destruction.

- The burst rig was owned by Transocean, the company with which Chevron has a 5 year contract to operate.

- Chevron's 2009 annual report "celebrated 130 years of Chevron operations" which included operating "with the highest standards of integrity and respect for human rights."

-- To bring us back to the prepared Alternnative Annual Report for Chevron; the sixty-page report encompasses the full range of Chevron's (real) activities, like coal and chemicals, and pipelines and refineries.

On May 25, 2010, forty authors of the alternative report appeared at a press conference in Houston. The conference was to address the true cost of Chevron's operations in their communities.

- The next day, they delivered the report directly to Chevron inside the company's annual general meeting (AGM) while supporters rallied outside.

• 5 protesters were arrested from the site
• Chevron refused entry from 2 dozen people from affected areas around the world like Nigeria, Ecuadore, and Burma.



See the 2010 Alternative Report at the True Cost of Chevron web page.

Response by Brittany Kirvan and Dwight Stannard

1. Is it more realistic to side with the liberals in seeing the government's role in media regulation as one of protecting the public against the domination of the private sector (as well as the Fairness Doctrine), or with the conservatives, who see this as "government meddling in the free market"?

The real question seems to be the difference between "protection" and the concept of masking the negative aspects of war in order to obtain or retain war supporters.


2. An initial pro-regulatory position was supported by the enactment of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) that outlawed the transmission of sexually explicit and other indecent material on the internet. However, before the year was up, free speech activists had sued, and the courts ruled the CDA to be unconstitutional.

Although the CDA is DEFUNCT, you can still see the presence of its general concepts in the U.S. media. Al-Jazeera seems to follow a completely different set of guidelines. You can see that they don't have the pressure to censor their material. In a way, Al-Jazeera conveys more truths than the U.S. media.


3. The idea of objectivity—separating facts from values—is unobtainable, but it is a valuable goal.

In "Control Room" it seems as if Al-Jezeera attempts to achieve objectivity with more success than the United States. Is it possible that the fact that Al-Jazeera uses less censoring than the United States, has to do with their objectivity-heavy morals?


4. Media companies follow the “hit” formula even if the outcome is not successful at all times.

page 123: "Political forces, particularly government regulations, also play a significant role in shaping the environment within which media organizations operate....The media sometimes ignore, reinterpret, challenge, or preempt regulations."

This kind of connects to Al Jazeera being called the mouth piece of Osama Bin Laden by the U.S. As we see in the movie, this is not true. Al Jazeera is constantly challenging and ignoring political/powerful figures and displaying what they want, how they want to. 

A Film Review? Or War Review? (Media Meditation #1)

Restrepo (2010) Movie Poster

I had a pretty interesting media experience last week. I watched a documentary film called Restrepo, which is up for an Academy Award this Sunday for Best Documentary. The film is about a year spent with one particular United States platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan (and some say the world!), called The Koringal Valley. The Koringal is known to be such a dangerous location because of it's known orientation to the front lines between strong United States and Taliban army posts. In short, the Korengal valley is like the line of scrimmage right before the ball is snapped in an American Football game. Just give the players guns, knives, and an extreme desire to kill one another.

Rumor has it that the Korengal Valley takes somewhere around 50% of casualties in The War in Afghanistan...



Here, also is a clip from cbsnews.com with Co-Director Sebastian Junger and Major Daniel Kearney, who plays the biggest role in the film (and in the platoon).



My first response to this flick was to watch it again, to be honest. We've seen plenty of footage of the war from the perspective of CNN, NBC, ABC broadcasting groups. But those perspectives are biased to a higher degree because of the direct subjectivity of American soldiers as victims and Taliban soldiers as the suspects. But one of the many successes in Restrepo is the attempt to stay as unbiased as possible. The reason I use the term "attempt" is because, of course, its impossible to keep a lack of prejudice in making an American film about American soldiers. But in Restrepo, both sides of the spectrum are respected. The only prejudice presented in the film is the straw-man-like strategy that puts the viewer on the filmmaker's side indirectly. For example, directors Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger include clips of United States soldiers meeting with the elders from the area village, giving the image of cooperation between two much different groups of people. This was a way for the filmmakers to give the viewers an option as to whether they would like to side with the Americans or the Taliban. In a way, it can be seen as a persuasion technique, but in another way it can be seen as a production technique; adding a level of emotional connection to both sides of the battle, which gives the filmmakers a wider percentage of acceptance.

Co-Directors Sebastian Junger (left) and Tim Hetherington

It's never fun to think of films such as Restrepo as being a media campaign or a one sided war strategy to win over the respect of those Americans who are avidly against the war. But thinking realistically, worse things have been done to persuade the hearts and minds of fellow Americans. The 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor was seen by a large majority of the population to be a persuasive technique used by the U.S. Government to get more men to enlist in the United States Army during World War II. Whether or not this was FDR's scapegoat strategy to obtain more soldiers is obsolete. My point is that there is always the possibility of a deeper strategical plan.

This comes around to the point of ethics. Where do we draw the ethical line when we are talking about persuasive techniques? When we are using bandwagoning, and humor, and timing, and repetition... ;) to persuade a population, it is generally a fair trial. But when we start to use big lies, and testimonials, and name calling, we are reaching a bigger issue and moral dilemma.

American Soldiers at O.P. Restrepo

Regardless of it's controversies (which, by the way, have not been public controversies, just those in my head) Restrepo has my vote for best documentary and I recommend watching it before Sunday!

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